adventuring IN + exploring IN

Rome City, IN – Carriage House

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; one of the best parts of my job is getting to visit different tourist attractions for meetings. This meeting was held at Gene Stratton-Porter’s Cabin at Wildflower Woods; another State Historic Site honoring the late Gene Stratton-Porter. Also called Limberlsot North, the cabin faces a gorgeous lake full of boaters. The 7 bedroom log cabin resembled an improved design from the Geneva home. The forest allowed Gene to continue preserving the endangered plants in her garden while she wrote and studied nature. While I learned a lot on this trip, I didn’t take a notepad and pen like I normally do so I was unable to remember a lot of the information by the time I went to write about it. I have included pictures of the beautiful place that faces Sylvan Lake.

Your view as you drive to the secluded cabin. Notice the owls protecting the property with a watchful eye. The property is nestled in 148 acres of wooded land and beautifully kept gardens.

A statue honoring the great Gene Stratton-Porter.

The front of the house that faces Sylvan Lake

The picture perfect view from the front window

The beautiful fireplace that was created using rocks gathered from all over the United States. Our guide said that people can see different images within the rocks. Tell me what you see in the comments below!

Just SOME of the many books Gene read to learn more about nature and all its creatures.

This was Gene’s greenhouse-workspace. With a lot of natural lighting, she was able to identify hundreds of plant specimens in this room.

One of things Gene wanted updated from the Limberlost Cabin in Geneva was a darkroom. Gene took many of her own pictures and wanted to be able to develop them on her own. In the Limberlost Cabin, she had to use the bathroom as her darkroom which had a window. She maid sure this room, adjacent to the bathroom, did NOT have a window.

Again, a woman wise beyond her years, had indoor plumbing before most. (Disclaimer: This is not the actual toilet she had in her home. It has since been upgraded.)

The original “refrigerator”. It was used like an above ground “root cellar’.

This manmade stream gave Gene easy access to cool water at all times. You could feel the difference in temperatures between the little canal of water from the lake water.

These formal gardens have been around since Gene lived here. She did have a gardener who helped maintain all the plant life growing around her home but she designed the entire place herself!

The back of the home that faces the formal gardens.

I love learning about history, and more importantly, the women who changed it. I can’t tell whether my self-proclaimed feminism or interior designer personality is what draws me to her, but Gene Stratton-Porter might be my spirit animal!